THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - September 17 - Full Text - Happy Birthday Gary Richard Meyer and Doug Lorber!

Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

SEPTEMBER 17

PSALMS: 17, 47, 77, 107, 137

PROVERBS: 17

OLD TESTAMENT: HOSEA 6:1 - 9:19

NEW TESTAMENT: 3 JOHN 1:1 - 15

PSALMS: 17

A prayer of David.

¹ Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea;

listen to my cry.

Give ear to my prayer--

it does not rise from deceitful lips.

² May my vindication come from you;

may your eyes see what is right.

³ Though you probe my heart and examine me at night,

though you test me, you will find nothing;

I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.

⁴ As for the deeds of men--

by the word of your lips

I have kept myself

from the ways of the violent.

⁵ My steps have held to your paths;

my feet have not slipped.

⁶ I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;

give ear to me and hear my prayer.

⁷ Show the wonder of your great love,

you who save by your right hand

those who take refuge in you from their foes.

⁸ Keep me as the apple of your eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings

⁹ from the wicked who assail me,

from my mortal enemies who surround me. ¹

¹⁰ They close up their callous hearts,

and their mouths speak with arrogance.

¹¹ They have tracked me down, they now surround me,

with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.

¹² They are like a lion hungry for prey,

like a great lion crouching in cover.

¹³ Rise up, O LORD, confront them, bring them down;

rescue me from the wicked by your sword.

¹⁴ O LORD, by your hand save me from such men,

from men of this world whose reward is in this life.

You still the hunger of those you cherish;

their sons have plenty,

and they store up wealth for their children.

¹⁵ And I--in righteousness I will see your face;

when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing

your likeness. ²

PSALMS: 47

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹ Clap your hands, all you nations;

shout to God with cries of joy.

² How awesome is the LORD Most High,

the great King over all the earth!

³ He subdued nations under us,

peoples under our feet.

⁴ He chose our inheritance for us,

the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

Selah

⁵ God has ascended amid shouts of joy,

the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.

⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises;

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

⁷ For God is the King of all the earth;

sing to him a psalm ^A of praise.

⁸ God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne.

⁹ The nobles of the nations assemble

as the people of the God of Abraham,

for the ^{kings B} of the earth belong to God;

he is greatly exalted. ³

PSALMS: 77

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.

¹ I cried out to God for help;

I cried out to God to hear me.

² When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;

at night I stretched out untiring hands

and my soul refused to be comforted.

³ I remembered you, O God, and I groaned;

I mused, and my spirit grew faint.

Selah

⁴ You kept my eyes from closing;

I was too troubled to speak.

⁵ I thought about the former days,

the years of long ago;

⁶ I remembered my songs in the night.

My heart mused and my spirit inquired:

⁷ "Will the Lord reject forever?

Will he never show his favor again?

⁸ Has his unfailing love vanished forever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

⁹ Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?"

Selah ⁴

¹⁰ Then I thought, "To this I will appeal:

the years of the right hand of the Most High."

¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the LORD;

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

¹² I will meditate on all your works

and consider all your mighty deeds.

¹³ Your ways, O God, are holy.

What god is so great as our God?

¹⁴ You are the God who performs miracles;

you display your power among the peoples.

¹⁵ With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

Selah

¹⁶ The waters saw you, O God,

the waters saw you and writhed;

the very depths were convulsed.

¹⁷ The clouds poured down water,

the skies resounded with thunder;

your arrows flashed back and forth.

¹⁸ Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,

your lightning lit up the world;

the earth trembled and quaked.

¹⁹ Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen.

²⁰ You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron. ⁵

PSALMS: 107

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

² Let the redeemed of the LORD say this--

those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

³ those he gathered from the lands,

from east and west, from north and south. ^A

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastelands,

finding no way to a city where they could settle.

⁵ They were hungry and thirsty,

and their lives ebbed away.

⁶ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

⁷ He led them by a straight way

to a city where they could settle.

⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men,

⁹ for he satisfies the thirsty

and fills the hungry with good things.

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,

prisoners suffering in iron chains,

¹¹ for they had rebelled against the words of God

and despised the counsel of the Most High.

¹² So he subjected them to bitter labor;

they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

¹³ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom

and broke away their chains.

¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men,

¹⁶ for he breaks down gates of bronze

and cuts through bars of iron. ⁶

¹⁷ Some became fools through their rebellious ways

and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.

¹⁸ They loathed all food

and drew near the gates of death.

¹⁹ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

²⁰ He sent forth his word and healed them;

he rescued them from the grave.

²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men.

²² Let them sacrifice thank offerings

and tell of his works with songs of joy.

²³ Others went out on the sea in ships;

they were merchants on the mighty waters.

²⁴ They saw the works of the LORD,

his wonderful deeds in the deep.

²⁵ For he spoke and stirred up a tempest

that lifted high the waves.

²⁶ They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;

in their peril their courage melted away.

²⁷ They reeled and staggered like drunken men;

they were at their wits' end.

²⁸ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

and he brought them out of their distress.

²⁹ He stilled the storm to a whisper;

the waves of the sea were hushed.

³⁰ They were glad when it grew calm,

and he guided them to their desired haven.

³¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men.

³² Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people ⁷

and praise him in the council of the elders.

³³ He turned rivers into a desert,

flowing springs into thirsty ground,

³⁴ and fruitful land into a salt waste,

because of the wickedness of those who lived there.

³⁵ He turned the desert into pools of water

and the parched ground into flowing springs;

³⁶ there he brought the hungry to live,

and they founded a city where they could settle.

³⁷ They sowed fields and planted vineyards

that yielded a fruitful harvest;

³⁸ he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,

and he did not let their herds diminish.

³⁹ Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled

by oppression, calamity and sorrow;

⁴⁰ he who pours contempt on nobles

made them wander in a trackless waste.

⁴¹ But he lifted the needy out of their affliction

and increased their families like flocks.

⁴² The upright see and rejoice,

but all the wicked shut their mouths.

⁴³ Whoever is wise, let him heed these things

and consider the great love of the LORD. ⁸

PSALMS: 137

¹ By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion.

² There on the poplars

we hung our harps,

³ for there our captors asked us for songs,

our tormentors demanded songs of joy;

they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the LORD

while in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

may my right hand forget its skill.

⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth

if I do not remember you,

if I do not consider Jerusalem

my highest joy.

⁷ Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did

on the day Jerusalem fell.

"Tear it down," they cried,

"tear it down to its foundations!"

⁸ O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,

happy is he who repays you

for what you have done to us--

⁹ he who seizes your infants

and dashes them against the rocks. ⁹

PROVERBS: 17

17 ¹ Better a dry crust with peace and quiet

than a house full of feasting, ^A with strife.

² A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son,

and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.

³ The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,

but the LORD tests the heart.

⁴ A wicked man listens to evil lips;

a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue.

⁵ He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;

whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

⁶ Children's children are a crown to the aged,

and parents are the pride of their children.

⁷ Arrogant ^B lips are unsuited to a fool--

how much worse lying lips to a ruler!

⁸ A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it;

wherever he turns, he succeeds.

⁹ He who covers over an offense promotes love,

but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

¹⁰ A rebuke impresses a man of discernment

more than a hundred lashes a fool.

¹¹ An evil man is bent only on rebellion;

a merciless official will be sent against him. ¹⁰

¹² Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs

than a fool in his folly.

¹³ If a man pays back evil for good,

evil will never leave his house.

¹⁴ Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;

so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

¹⁵ Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent--

the LORD detests them both.

¹⁶ Of what use is money in the hand of a fool,

since he has no desire to get wisdom?

¹⁷ A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁸ A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge

and puts up security for his neighbor.

¹⁹ He who loves a quarrel loves sin;

he who builds a high gate invites destruction.

²⁰ A man of perverse heart does not prosper;

he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.

²¹ To have a fool for a son brings grief;

there is no joy for the father of a fool. ¹¹

²² A cheerful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

²³ A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret

to pervert the course of justice.

²⁴ A discerning man keeps wisdom in view,

but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

²⁵ A foolish son brings grief to his father

and bitterness to the one who bore him.

²⁶ It is not good to punish an innocent man,

or to flog officials for their integrity.

²⁷ A man of knowledge uses words with restraint,

and a man of understanding is even-tempered.

²⁸ Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent,

and discerning if he holds his tongue. ¹²

OLD TESTAMENT: HOSEA 6:1 - 9:19

6: ¹ "Come, let us return to the LORD.

He has torn us to pieces

but he will heal us;

he has injured us

but he will bind up our wounds.

² After two days he will revive us;

on the third day he will restore us,

that we may live in his presence.

³ Let us acknowledge the LORD;

let us press on to acknowledge him.

As surely as the sun rises,

he will appear;

he will come to us like the winter rains,

like the spring rains that water the earth."

⁴ "What can I do with you, Ephraim?

What can I do with you, Judah?

Your love is like the morning mist,

like the early dew that disappears.

⁵ Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,

I killed you with the words of my mouth;

my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.

⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,

and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷ Like Adam, ^A they have broken the covenant--

they were unfaithful to me there.

⁸ Gilead is a city of wicked men, ¹³

stained with footprints of blood.

⁹ As marauders lie in ambush for a man,

so do bands of priests;

they murder on the road to Shechem,

committing shameful crimes.

¹⁰ I have seen a horrible thing

in the house of Israel.

There Ephraim is given to prostitution

and Israel is defiled.

¹¹ "Also for you, Judah,

a harvest is appointed.

"Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people

7 ¹ whenever I would heal Israel,

the sins of Ephraim are exposed

and the crimes of Samaria revealed.

They practice deceit,

thieves break into houses,

bandits rob in the streets;

² but they do not realize

that I remember all their evil deeds.

Their sins engulf them;

they are always before me. ¹⁴

³ "They delight the king with their wickedness,

the princes with their lies.

⁴ They are all adulterers,

burning like an oven

whose fire the baker need not stir

from the kneading of the dough till it rises.

⁵ On the day of the festival of our king

the princes become inflamed with wine,

and he joins hands with the mockers.

⁶ Their hearts are like an oven;

they approach him with intrigue.

Their passion smolders all night;

in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

⁷ All of them are hot as an oven;

they devour their rulers.

All their kings fall,

and none of them calls on me.

⁸ "Ephraim mixes with the nations;

Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over.

⁹ Foreigners sap his strength,

but he does not realize it.

His hair is sprinkled with gray,

but he does not notice. ¹⁵

¹⁰ Israel's arrogance testifies against him,

but despite all this

he does not return to the LORD his God

or search for him.

¹¹ "Ephraim is like a dove,

easily deceived and senseless--

now calling to Egypt,

now turning to Assyria.

¹² When they go, I will throw my net over them;

I will pull them down like birds of the air.

When I hear them flocking together,

I will catch them.

¹³ Woe to them,

because they have strayed from me!

Destruction to them,

because they have rebelled against me!

I long to redeem them

but they speak lies against me.

¹⁴ They do not cry out to me from their hearts

but wail upon their beds.

They gather together ^A for grain and new wine

but turn away from me.

¹⁵ I trained them and strengthened them,

but they plot evil against me.

¹⁶ They do not turn to the Most High; ¹⁶

they are like a faulty bow.

Their leaders will fall by the sword

because of their insolent words.

For this they will be ridiculed

in the land of Egypt.

8: ¹ "Put the trumpet to your lips!

An eagle is over the house of the LORD

because the people have broken my covenant

and rebelled against my law.

² Israel cries out to me,

`O our God, we acknowledge you!'

³ But Israel has rejected what is good;

an enemy will pursue him.

⁴ They set up kings without my consent;

they choose princes without my approval.

With their silver and gold

they make idols for themselves

to their own destruction.

⁵ Throw out your calf-idol, O Samaria!

My anger burns against them.

How long will they be incapable of purity?

⁶ They are from Israel!

This calf--a craftsman has made it; ¹⁷

it is not God.

It will be broken in pieces,

that calf of Samaria.

⁷ "They sow the wind

and reap the whirlwind.

The stalk has no head;

it will produce no flour.

Were it to yield grain,

foreigners would swallow it up.

⁸ Israel is swallowed up;

now she is among the nations

like a worthless thing.

⁹ For they have gone up to Assyria

like a wild donkey wandering alone.

Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.

¹⁰ Although they have sold themselves among the nations,

I will now gather them together.

They will begin to waste away

under the oppression of the mighty king.

¹¹ "Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,

these have become altars for sinning.

¹² I wrote for them the many things of my law, ¹⁸

but they regarded them as something alien.

¹³ They offer sacrifices given to me

and they eat the meat,

but the LORD is not pleased with them.

Now he will remember their wickedness

and punish their sins:

They will return to Egypt.

¹⁴ Israel has forgotten his Maker

and built palaces;

Judah has fortified many towns.

But I will send fire upon their cities

that will consume their fortresses."

9: ¹ Do not rejoice, O Israel;

do not be jubilant like the other nations.

For you have been unfaithful to your God;

you love the wages of a prostitute

at every threshing floor.

² Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;

the new wine will fail them.

³ They will not remain in the LORD's land;

Ephraim will return to Egypt

and eat unclean ^A food in Assyria.

⁴ They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, ¹⁹

nor will their sacrifices please him.

Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;

all who eat them will be unclean.

This food will be for themselves;

it will not come into the temple of the LORD.

⁵ What will you do on the day of your appointed feasts,

on the festival days of the LORD?

⁶ Even if they escape from destruction,

Egypt will gather them,

and Memphis will bury them.

Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers,

and thorns will overrun their tents.

⁷ The days of punishment are coming,

the days of reckoning are at hand.

Let Israel know this.

Because your sins are so many

and your hostility so great,

the prophet is considered a fool,

the inspired man a maniac.

⁸ The prophet, along with my God,

is the watchman over Ephraim, ^B

yet snares await him on all his paths,

and hostility in the house of his God. ²⁰

⁹ They have sunk deep into corruption,

as in the days of Gibeah.

God will remember their wickedness

and punish them for their sins.

¹⁰ "When I found Israel,

it was like finding grapes in the desert;

when I saw your fathers,

it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.

But when they came to Baal Peor,

they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol

and became as vile as the thing they loved.

¹¹ Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird--

no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.

¹² Even if they rear children,

I will bereave them of every one.

Woe to them

when I turn away from them!

¹³ I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre,

planted in a pleasant place.

But Ephraim will bring out

their children to the slayer."

¹⁴ Give them, O LORD--

what will you give them?

Give them wombs that miscarry

and breasts that are dry. ²¹

¹⁵ "Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,

I hated them there.

Because of their sinful deeds,

I will drive them out of my house.

I will no longer love them;

all their leaders are rebellious.

¹⁶ Ephraim is blighted,

their root is withered,

they yield no fruit.

Even if they bear children,

I will slay their cherished offspring."

¹⁷ My God will reject them

because they have not obeyed him;

they will be wanderers among the nations. ²²

NEW TESTAMENT: 3 JOHN 1:1 - 15

1: ¹ The elder,

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

² Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. ³ It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

⁵ Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. ⁶ They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. ⁷ It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. ⁸ We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.

⁹ I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. ¹⁰ So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

¹¹ Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. ¹² Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone--and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³ I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. ¹⁴ I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name. ²³

1 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

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 John 3:16-21 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, F that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.G 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." H